Recognizing "The One"...

Halo_n_horns

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I keep coming across a number of sites and threads and advice columns and so on, that seem to be giving a great deal of advice to people who are suffering through relationships that are deteriorating.

I'm writing this because I've seen a quite a large number of relationships go down the tubes and, quite frankly, they should have.

People don't know what to look for when they choose someone for a long-term relationship or a life-long commitment through marriage. People get together, find they have some chemistry between them, start pursuing a relationship, and then the hormones kick in and things get serious. Typically, at some point early on, they have that discussion where the two of them find out about all these cute little things that they both have in common and they rationalize those things in common as somehow being part of a good foundation for the relationship together.

OK, now hold that thought. I need to preface it with another point before it goes any further.

If you are in your teens to early twenties, and you're thinking about, or you're already in a serious relationship, may I suggest in the kindest and most sugar-coated way that you take a step back and think about what is to follow?

Here's the thing, you're young, you're healthy, you're full of hormones that screaming at you, "BREED! BREED!" and you're going to be very quick to let yourself get all emotional over someone and say that he or she is the one, and that will be your undoing.

When you're that young "the one" is typically, not always, but typically the wrong one. I mean, what the hell do you really know when you're that young? Honestly?

Have you seen the world? Have you had lots of different kinds of adventures to find out what kind of person you really are? Have you gone all the way through school and made, or are on your way to making your fortunes, however big or small they may be? Have you seriously figured out who you are sexually?

But most importantly, above all other things that you need to learn, and that you generally cannot learn while strapped to someone that you merely have things in common with, is what your passions in life are. Do you know what they are? Or do you know what it is to have a passion in life?

Unfortunately too many people never really know what their passions in life really are. They settle for something that they justify as being what they were meant to have.

I know that people say things like they have a passion for Bon Bons, or for watching baseball or some other sport or recreation. I have a passion for fresh dipped corndogs from the state fair, but I'm not going to use that as something to base a relationship off of.

Basically, your younger years, from high school all the way through college and then for a few years beyond that, at least, should be treated like one big research project. And the best and most productive research projects with the best outcomes, typically take years to complete.

There's the micro of the macro. Still holding that thought from earlier?

When you know yourself; when you know who you are as through and through as you believe you possibly can, and you know what your passions in life are and have discovered how you will pursue them, then you will find "the one."

You'll find “the one” or he or she will find you because he or she knows himself or herself as thoroughly as you know yourself, and the two of you will have passions in life that are reflected in, or at least complimented by one another.

These are the relationships that will stand the greatest chance of surviving the tests of time.

Now, I know that some flamers are going to come along and try to have their fun with this, or no one will give a shit and this will be over-looked steadily and eventually dismissed altogether, or someone will say that this is too long of an opening for a thread. That's fine, it's been said.

I know, from others that I've known or observed and from my own life experiences, that what I've written here is solid and true.

Take care.:cool:
 
I made the mistake of getting married at 19, to someone who turned out to be an insecure emotional bully. I stayed with him for 23 years, because I was too afraid to leave. When I finally did, I began doing the exploring I should have done in my younger years but was too shy or afraid to do.

I met my One here on Lit, first as a friend then something deeper......we have just celebrated our first year together. I love being His submissive and I feel completed for the first time in my life. We share a deep love and commitment to each other, probably more special because He has chronic health problems and He thought He would never find anyone to love Him again. I am able to be the real me with Him, the bisexual kinky submissive He loves :cool: I'm 46 years old and I'm living how I want for the first time in my life :heart:
 
Bandit58 said:
I made the mistake of getting married at 19, to someone who turned out to be an insecure emotional bully. I stayed with him for 23 years, because I was too afraid to leave. When I finally did, I began doing the exploring I should have done in my younger years but was too shy or afraid to do.

I met my One here on Lit, first as a friend then something deeper......we have just celebrated our first year together. I love being His submissive and I feel completed for the first time in my life. We share a deep love and commitment to each other, probably more special because He has chronic health problems and He thought He would never find anyone to love Him again. I am able to be the real me with Him, the bisexual kinky submissive He loves :cool: I'm 46 years old and I'm living how I want for the first time in my life :heart:

Congratulations!!! It's always good to hear that someone found out it's never too late.

Stay young and have fun.:cool:
 
Some valid points, but I think there are others for the opposite conclusion.

For one, if you wait too long until you're out of your 'early twenties', to find "the one" then you have two options: hastily find 'the one' and marry and have kids within just a few years of meeting, or cultivate a good, deep relationship from the begining, taking 5+ years and only then starting a family. Neither is very good: in one case you may be getting into a mistaken relationship for the rest of your life, bringing kids into this world with someone you can't really have a stable long-term relationship, and in the other you are starting to have children too late, increasing the risks of various defects in your offspring, and just plain inability to have children. :(

If you have 'the one' from earlier age, then you have a pretty big foundation together and it'll be a lot easier and safer to develop it further into a marriage without it falling apart. Of course, if your 'the one' was mistake from day one, then it doesn't really help you much. :)
 
Bandit58 said:
I made the mistake of getting married at 19, to someone who turned out to be an insecure emotional bully. I stayed with him for 23 years, because I was too afraid to leave. When I finally did, I began doing the exploring I should have done in my younger years but was too shy or afraid to do.

I met my One here on Lit, first as a friend then something deeper......we have just celebrated our first year together. I love being His submissive and I feel completed for the first time in my life. We share a deep love and commitment to each other, probably more special because He has chronic health problems and He thought He would never find anyone to love Him again. I am able to be the real me with Him, the bisexual kinky submissive He loves :cool: I'm 46 years old and I'm living how I want for the first time in my life :heart:


mushy,mushy,mushy but i love it & I love you to my sweet loverly OH so kinky lady.:heart: :D apart from the M/s play it is also the relationship I have desired all my life & yes it is still early days but rule one is communication & talking about anything that involves us so that things don't go to far which often leads to the relationship failing.

For any relationship you must be open & honest & TALK things through, that means talk to each other & not at each other.
 
Wolk said:
Some valid points, but I think there are others for the opposite conclusion.

For one, if you wait too long until you're out of your 'early twenties', to find "the one" then you have two options: hastily find 'the one' and marry and have kids within just a few years of meeting, or cultivate a good, deep relationship from the begining, taking 5+ years and only then starting a family. Neither is very good: in one case you may be getting into a mistaken relationship for the rest of your life, bringing kids into this world with someone you can't really have a stable long-term relationship, and in the other you are starting to have children too late, increasing the risks of various defects in your offspring, and just plain inability to have children. :(

If you have 'the one' from earlier age, then you have a pretty big foundation together and it'll be a lot easier and safer to develop it further into a marriage without it falling apart. Of course, if your 'the one' was mistake from day one, then it doesn't really help you much. :)

Thank you for your reply.

I've seen that when a person gives him or herself the time to become wiser than they were as a teen or young twenty-something, that things manage to go a great deal smoother for them.

Your examples seem extreme and I have yet to see them occur in reality. But then I am only one person.:cool:
 
Gil_T2 said:
mushy,mushy,mushy but i love it & I love you to my sweet loverly OH so kinky lady.:heart: :D apart from the M/s play it is also the relationship I have desired all my life & yes it is still early days but rule one is communication & talking about anything that involves us so that things don't go to far which often leads to the relationship failing.

For any relationship you must be open & honest & TALK things through, that means talk to each other & not at each other.

That would be an excellent addition to what I wrote. Thank you.

Also, I know I wasn't terribly clear on this, and perhaps I'll go back and edit it in more clearly, but I do realize that this is not for everyone. There are those very lucky and very few who find their heart's desire very early in life and they do make it through the long tests of time. Unfortunately I've seen many more that have not fallen into that category.:(
 
Wolk said:
Some valid points, but I think there are others for the opposite conclusion.

For one, if you wait too long until you're out of your 'early twenties', to find "the one" then you have two options: hastily find 'the one' and marry and have kids within just a few years of meeting, or cultivate a good, deep relationship from the begining, taking 5+ years and only then starting a family. Neither is very good: in one case you may be getting into a mistaken relationship for the rest of your life, bringing kids into this world with someone you can't really have a stable long-term relationship, and in the other you are starting to have children too late, increasing the risks of various defects in your offspring, and just plain inability to have children. :(

If you have 'the one' from earlier age, then you have a pretty big foundation together and it'll be a lot easier and safer to develop it further into a marriage without it falling apart. Of course, if your 'the one' was mistake from day one, then it doesn't really help you much. :)

I do regret that I have only my daughter (she was a result of a one night stand) & a relationship with her mother should never have happened as ther was never any love involved but my daughter is the apple of my eye & always has been & now I have 2 beautiful grandkids too, but my point being NEVER EVER race into having kids....kids are to precious to be a mistake.The idea of meeting your true ONE & having happy families is fantasy & only a very few lucky ones have this dream happen.
 
Gil_T2 said:
I do regret that I have only my daughter (she was a result of a one night stand) & a relationship with her mother should never have happened as ther was never any love involved but my daughter is the apple of my eye & always has been & now I have 2 beautiful grandkids too, but my point being NEVER EVER race into having kids....kids are to precious to be a mistake.The idea of meeting your true ONE & having happy families is fantasy & only a very few lucky ones have this dream happen.

Nothing great comes easily.:cool:
 
Halo_n_horns said:
That would be an excellent addition to what I wrote. Thank you.

Also, I know I wasn't terribly clear on this, and perhaps I'll go back and edit it in more clearly, but I do realize that this is not for everyone. There are those very lucky and very few who find their heart's desire very early in life and they do make it through the long tests of time. Unfortunately I've seen many more that have not fallen into that category.:(

The trouble is we meet ppl & there is a desire for more with them but as time goes on we get comfy & let the little things slide like letting the other know how & what your feeling, this is the common thing you always hear when thing go wrong...He/she never talks to me, I don't know what he/she is thinking, we just don't communicate.......
 
There's no such thing as the "One".

If you meet someone who seems to be the "One", there may be someone else out there who you will never meet, who is much more suited for you than the person you think is the "One".

You will never have time to meet everyone, so how can you say any one person is the "One"?

Totally ridiculous fallacy.
 
Great posts and discussion, Halo.

I am one of those people who was "too young" to get married (22), though from what I've heard and seen, we are the exception and not the rule. Our relationship has been built upon a friendship, and has only grown stronger with each stress and challenge. I don't believe in "the one"(what a depressing concept), but I'm very blessed to have found one person to share so much love and life with. :)
 
well, I'm now 23 and at the beginning of my first relationship ever. She will become 20 in a month and we both are (as far as I know) absolutly inexperienced, at least from the practical side of things... in theory... well...

we both have our problems, but because of these problems we both are going to start slow... I don't believe that the hormons will quickstart us into a sexual frenzy because this is "one" of the problems we have... at the moment we are glad we found one person that is there for us, understands us and is willing to try out what for other people is something absolutly normal, a relationship.

I have to say you have a lot of valid points in your post and good tips for most people my age but I'm not normal... I have learned the hard way what I have to choose, and I'm still learning... with professional help... and thank fate I have choosen this way... because the first time in my life I see light
 
Age has little impact on those "hormones" you speak about. For one thing, those "hormones" that are clearly documented brain chemicals released at the beginning of a relationship. That initial burst of lust you feel is due to Phenylethylamine being released in massive amounts in your brain. Chocolate is also known to carry high amounts of Phenylethylamine. The down side to all this is that the human brain cannot sustain the production of Phenylethylamine for long. Usually no more than a few months, sometimes upwards of a year or more. And that is why they call it the honeymoon period folks. Your brain is giving itself a lust high and will continue doing so til it can't do it anymore.

When I first met Alyx, I was 35. Yes, 35 and coming out of bad marriage. And I couldn't keep my hands off her. Hell today, more than 10 years later and I still can't keep my hands off her. Our first weeks together could be best described as one glorious alternation between foreplay and sex. I suppose at 35 I should have been able to be more logical despite the fact that I had this sweet young 22yr old in my arms willing to do anything and wanting to do everything. I suppose I could have said "Whoa lets step back and think this through logically!", but I didn't. Deep down, through all that neurochemical fog, something screamed to me "THIS IS THE ONE!!!". In fact it said that to me before I even had the chance to know her sexually.

Alyx captured my heart with a simple human gesture in front of a airport terminal, I gave it to her willingly. From that instant I knew I had to make her mine.

So I'll restate as I said at the beginning, age and maturity may help in finding the one. But when you met the one, all the age and maturity in the whole can't prepare you for that roller coaster.
 
I agree whole heartedly with Halo. I met my first husband at 15 and we dated for 6 years and I had no idea who I was so I just became whatever made him happy and wouldn't leave me out in the cold. He was a very strick religious sort and sex before marriage was forbidden... after that many years and the chemical brain thing long long gone, when we got married it was just because it seemed like the thing to do. When I hit 24 I realized I didn't want to be the person he thought I was.

Fortunately I went through my discovery period really quick because that is just me... I have a very strange habit of picking apart a problem endlessly until it is solved... and at that point I met a guy online who helped me open my mind to things I never even considered. This man was older that I was, but he still didn't know all the answers... and I loved that. He never judged me for anything even being extremely sexually curious which was so taboo before it was ridiculous.

I think most people have a very wrong conception of "The One". Yes I believe in the one... and so few people find that one because they have no idea what that is.

The One comes along at just the right time when everything in your life is truly yours. When you finally own up to everything you have done and everything you are that one will come along. If it is meant to be then no amount of searching and failures is gonna find that one. It is just something that happens when you aren't looking for it at all.

I think bars and clubs are the absolute WORST place to meet someone unless you are a musician. Honestly, how often do you go to a bar or a club when you have been together a long time? Most women don't like going out with their man because they are insecure with all the other single women around and they know that is where their man hooked up with them etc. If you want to meet someone go someplace that you personally enjoy going all the time just for fun. That way you can meet someone who actually has that passion. And if you don't meet a person... big deal you're having fun anyway.

Meeting online is a great idea. It makes you establish communication before physical contact. It definitely broades your pool of possibilities. And you can get to know people from a safe distance.

But anyway... if you don't know heartache and pain you can't possibly judge your joy. Most everyone who finds The One does so after something terrible. But I believe in my one, and we are two perfectly harmonious individuals who just fit. I will never be part of a giant couple conglomerate where you lose your personal time and identity.
 
There is a test that can predict with very high accuary (85%?) if a couple will be together in 2, 5, 10 years.... It's used a lot in premarital counseling.
 
I believe in The One.

It probably stems from the perception of a little girl and being told there is a Knight in Shining Armor out there. I met mine just before I started 9th grade at the tender age of 14.

Between the endings of childhood and the onset of womanhood, I met this boy who was 17 where it was truly love at first sight. There was something cosmically magical the moment my eyes met his.

We married 8 years later. It has been almost 24 years for us being together - we are best friends, confidants, lovers, parents AND business partners. And for the most part, we still can't get enough of each other's company. (Imagine that working all day together and then coming home at night together!)

It hasn't been perfect - we've had our ups and downs like everyone does. But I think because our relationship is so strong, we can ride out the tough times a little easier than a lot of couples.
 
I think there is "The One" for "This Space in Time."

It seems incredible to me to think that we actually expect a couple of wet-behind-the-ears 19 or 20 year olds to get together and be able to grow at the same rate, in the same direction, so they wind up in the same place 20 or 30 years later without major damage to the psyche of one or both of them. What I think is more likely is that successful and satisfying relationships are had all the time by people who realize that there is often more than one "The One" for a whole bunch of people - people who came into your life for a period of time - sometimes briefly, sometimes for decades - because each of you had something invaluable to give to the other.

There are quite a few of you reading this who would say that I fail to acknowledge that a successful and satisfying relationship takes work, and that I am advocating quitting when the going gets tough. . . .Not so. But I also don't advocate becoming a martyr for the sake of a relationship that just isn't working anymore.

Do I know some 40-50 year olds who are still couples after all these years? Sure, I do - and I hear from them through their gritted teeth just how much work it takes for all that satisfaction and success. The ones who express the deep, abiding (for some, spiritual) type of love after all that time I can count on one hand.

The One may be The One, but probably not forever.
 
I think the important thing is that the relationship be built upon a friendship. Sometimes the longer you're friends with no romantic involvement the better. Though I don't believe you can find "the one" at too young an age. You just have to use your head as well as your heart.
 
All of you have such an eloquent way of putting this into perspective, however it seems a little too scientific. Yes, it's true about the chemicals induced with first lust and that chocolate gives a similar reaction. That never fails to fascinate me.

Let us not forget that it is quite possible to have more than one "The One" in our life. I believe you have at least fifty and this makes it much easier for you to find them. But let's be honest, they usually find you and it's not at all who you pictured it would be! My point? If there were only one "The One", what are the odds that you would ever meet without some major divine intervention? BTW, I do believe that happens but not for everyone. Some should be thrilled just to have found a "damn good one!".

;)
 
Ok,here I go my turn now.A lot of good things have been said here about the one.Is there one certain way to know when you have found the ONE?Will everyone feel the same thing when they have found their true life partner?I don't think so myself.Call me experienced ,stupid,or as someone else mentioned full of raging hormones saying breed ,breed,breed,but anyway I am on my fifth marraige and had many live-ins and many relationships.I did find the ONE!Plus contrary to what someone else said I did meet her in a bar where I worked as a bouncer.So as anyone who has worked in a popular bar in a big city,I saw about every type of woman out there.
The ONE for me came in and she was totally different than all the others.She was older than me,she carried herself differently than the others and she had this smile and eyes that said hey I am a friendly person and I love to have fun.Hell I honestly thought she was already married the way she acted.Later I could not believe that what initally attracted me to her was her smile and eyes,(something I never usually paid any attention to).But as was said earlier by someone else also ,it usually happens when you are not looking.Such was the case with me.I had decided the hell with long term relationships,I figured I was not cut out for that.We met and started to kind of flirt with each other.I really figured this gal is out of my league,but then a fellow worker told me she was asking about me etc.
We started to date a bit and found out that we had many things in common,a lot more than just the physical attraction,even though we had that too and it was and still is going strong after 16 years.I knew right away this was the one for me even though I did not think I was the one for her.All my friends told me the same thing,You better hang on to this one she is a rare one and if you fuck this up I will kick your ass.OK,that told me that they saw she was special,then I realized that I really wished that my mother was still alive because my Mother would have loved her.You know the girl you want to meet Mom and Dad.I know this will sound corny to a lot of you but honestly,this is the woman I dreamt all my younger years about being with.We have laughed,cried,fought like mad,fished ,hunted,we do everything together,she is my partner and I finally know what it is like to trust and be trusted.I am amazed at how many times either of us will up and say something and the other just say's wow I was thinking the same thing.I was 32 when we met and I do agree age does matter.I had experience enough in life to know the danger signs,plus I was not on the prowl for a relationship or anything for that matter.
Is there another one out there for me?I don't know and I don't want to find out because for that to happen I have to lose this one.We will be out in public and we see these old couples 70's and 80's still holding hands and the old guy helping her get out of cars and opening doors etc. generally showing love yet after all those years together and the wife and I always just look at each other and we don't need to say a thing because we both know what the other one is thinking.
Do I still see other women and think they are attractive or little Hotties?Hell yes I do,I am not blind.But I know they are not as compatable as me and mine are.
What it all boils down to is this.I was not looking at all and if someone had told me 17 years ago that today I would be married this long and happy and have a family like I do and not need drugs or alcohol to feel right.I would have said nope you are talking about someone else because I am not that type of person.So is there a way to tell if you have found the one ?Yes there is but it is different for each and every one.
 
Honeysucklevine said:
Let us not forget that it is quite possible to have more than one "The One" in our life. I believe you have at least fifty and this makes it much easier for you to find them.

If you can have more than one "The One", then in effect you are saying there's no such thing as "The One".
 
I thought that my college boyfriend was "the one".....we
had been going out for 3 years at the time, and I thought
he was going to propose that New Year's Eve (hell earlier
that summer I spent nearly 3 weeks in CA with him, as
he was living out there and going to grad school at
USC), but he didn't. Plus I felt something wasn't there
then......and when I went back to school for my final
semester senior year, I felt that things had changed,
and ultimately, a month before my graduation, he
sent me an email saying it was over.

Of course coming out of college, I made up for "lost time"
by going out w/ diff. guys here and there.....

Also another point is, going back earlier than college;
in high school, I only had one boyfriend......never really
dated anyone else.

With two of my good friends married (it will be two years
for both later this year), I sometimes feel that I'll be an
"old maid" at age 35, my bio clock is ticking....but I am
not about to rush in marriage just because of that. When
the right one comes it will happen!

:rose:
 
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